Fylde MP Mark Menzies said he was disappointed with the decision but would continue to press the Government over regulation and monitoring of the shale gas sites.

He said: “The decision I was looking for was one of refusal. I had hoped that the Inspector would have taken into account the views of Lancashire County Council.

The decision I was looking for was one of refusal

“But that was not the case and the Secretary of State has gone along with the planning inspectors recommendations.

“At Roseacre there are legitimate concerns about the effects of traffic to the site and it is absolutely right that serious questions are asked about that before any approval.”

He said in his view HGV traffic concerns could not be addressed and the Roasecre plan should continue to be refused despite Sajid Javed leaving the door open if road safety could be dealt with.

“They keep to it all now is regulation. When I voted for a moratorium on shale gas it was about making sure that all recommendations from the Royal Society and Royal Society of Engineers were implemented before any exploration can go ahead.

“In the coming weeks I will work to ensure the Government does get proper regulation in place before we get to the stage of any drilling.”

He added that he had held talks with the Environment Agency to ensure they would have adequate resources for monitoring and said a separate revenue stream would be put in place.

He added: “This is something I will be pressing the Government on.

“This has to be monitoring ‘on the ground’ not just from behind a desk. I want to see people in high vis vests on the site doing more than just what is necessary. Not only should regulation be in place, but it should also be enforced.”

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